Rage 2 Adds NBA Jam Announcer As Pre-Order Bonus

Bethesda has announced that Rage 2 comes with a special cheat code when you pre-order the game. You can watch the effects of the code, called He's On Fire, in the trailer above.

First things first, this doesn't seem to be an April Fool's Day joke. For the He's On Fire trailer's YouTube video, Bethesda comments, "And yes… it's real." According to Polygon, a Bethesda representative assured "this is 100% real, it is not a prank." If you're looking for April Fool's Day jokes, though, we've collected a bunch of this year's pranks.

Inputting the code for He's On Fire allows you to play through the entirety of Rage 2 with Tim Kitzrow--who's probably best known in the gaming community for voicing the announcer in the NBA Jam franchise--providing play-by-play commentary on your actions. The trailer for He's On Fire suggests the commentary is pretty responsive for whatever you're doing in the game. You'll be able to expect classic lines from NBA Jam, such as "from downtown" and "boomshakalaka," but there are new Rage 2-themed ones as well, like "you just sliced her head right off" and "tang, tang boomerang."

The trailer does not provide any indication for how many lines have been recorded, nor if Kitzrow provides commentary for actions done outside of battle. So what could be a pretty funny, clever idea might actually end up being pretty annoying. We'll just have to wait and see.

Rage 2 is the surprise sequel that no one expected to ever be announced. The game is being made by Just Cause 3's Avalanche Studios with joint-development support from id Software. Like its predecessor, Rage 2 gives you a large assortment of firearms and weapons to use in your fight across the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Earth. Rage 2 also sees the return of the first game's fascination with murderous cars and trucks, but puts a greater emphasis on vehicular warfare.

We got to play two hours of Rage 2 at a press preview event, and enjoyed how the game makes you feel like an unstoppable superhero. Rage 2 is releasing on May 14, and is scheduled for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.